Good-bye Electric Motor?

An innovative device called the nanomuscle just might replace the industrial staple.

Get ready to add a new word to your vocabulary: nanomuscles. Though this may be the first time you're hearing about them, the chances are it won't be the last. These tiny devices, which are already being touted as successors to the electric motor, are made from a "shape memory" alloy of nickel and titanium. Due to its molecular structure, this alloy is remarkably flexible and can be stretched to extraordinary lengths. When an electric current is passed through it, however, the alloy snaps back into its original shape. It is the force of this movement that allows a nanomuscle weighing only one gram to lift up to 140 times its own weight. In addition to strength, there is also the factor of cost to consider. Because they're so small, the cost of producing a nanomuscle is only about 50 cents. By comparison, an electric motor of comparable size and power would cost over $300 to produce. This price difference is accounted for by the fact that electric motors are comprised of many smaller parts whereas nanomuscles are structurally very simple. In addition, electric motors as small as a nanomuscle would have to be made of exotic metals that are generally very expensive. There is also the fact that electric motors are notoriously inefficient on a small scale. Nanomuscles, on the other hand, actually increase in efficiency as they decrease in size. Finally, because they are made of many moving gears, electric motors are typically noisy. By contrast, nanomuscles are relatively soundless, opening up a host of uses that would benefit from a silent power source, such as hospital room equipment.

Since almost every machine with moving parts requires an electric motor, the market for a smaller, cheaper replacement seems almost limitless. But perhaps the field in which nanomuscles will make the greatest impact is in the manufacturing of medical devices. Nanomuscles are tiny and inexpensive enough to be included in handheld devices not much thicker than a syringe that could draw blood and run analyses with the aid of tiny pumps and valves inside. Nanomuscles could, likewise, be used in pumps and valves for organ replacements. There is even a plastic surgeon investigating the use of nanomuscles to augment the face muscles of patients who suffer from facial trauma. Key to its potential use by the medical equipment industry is the fact that the nickel-titanium alloy nanomuscles are made of is compatible with human bio-systems.

NASA and the U.S. Military are also researching uses of this innovative new device. Oddly enough, the first nanomuscles to hit the commercial market may be as components in miniature toys. In fact, it is likely that the first place consumers will see nanomuscles in action is under their Christmas tree in December of 2002.